Looking at the indifferent young man in front of him, Shen Qingqiu didn't care about his image. He sat down casually and took the cakes on the table. While eating, he said vaguely: "Why are you here? Thank you very much, otherwise I don't know how to get over there."
Gu Yanwei just chuckled and said nothing, but silently poured her a cup of warm tea. The temperature was just right and it could also relieve the sweetness in Shen Qingqiu's mouth.
As Shen Qingqiu gradually finished eating the cakes and lay there comfortably, he opened his mouth and said softly: "Why did you come here? That's why I came to see you too."
Shen Qingqiu frowned and said coldly: "It seems that you also know about my textile factory. Tsk, what a trouble."
Gu Yanwei took a sip of tea and then said, "In fact, this time it's not just the death of someone in the textile factory, there are also constant disturbances in the court. Jiangnan has always been a tax-heavy area. Father knows that there is something behind the death of someone in the textile factory, but he also wants to know what the Jiangnan officials did."
"Is this what you did?" Shen Qingqiu asked? Gu Yanwei did not answer directly, "It seems that we are destined to accompany each other on this trip to Jiangnan." Gu Yanwei joked, and under the light, his handsomeness became even better.
As the two talked, the boat arrived in Jiangnan.
As soon as he got off the boat, he felt a gust of cold wind blowing. Shen Qingqiu frowned and instructed Wang Xi: "Put a coat on your master."
Gu Yanwei coughed lightly, and a hint of joy flashed across his brows.
In front of the dock, Jiangnan officials were ready and waiting.
"Welcome to the Ninth Prince."
Gu Yanwei waved his hand: "No need for these empty formalities."
The officials from Jiangnan stood by respectfully and said, "We have prepared a welcoming banquet for Your Highness. We hope you will come and show us your presence."
The Ninth Prince was ordered to come to Jiangnan, and all the officials were as if they were facing a great enemy, fearing that they had done something wrong. After all, this was the Ninth Prince, and if they offended him, not only would they not say anything, but they would also file a complaint directly to the court, and then they would be afraid that they would lose their official hats.
Gu Yanwei nodded and went in the direction the officials were going to receive him.
Shen Qingqiu followed behind him like his little follower. There was music and dancing at the banquet, and the officials from Jiangnan tried their best to please the Ninth Prince in front of them and curry favor with him.
Everyone knows that although the Ninth Prince is not in very good health, he is deeply loved by the Emperor. Now he has been ordered to investigate Jiangnan. If he does not please the Emperor well, he may lose his official hat.
Gu Yanwei couldn't find any interest in watching the dance in front of him. He looked quietly at Shen Qingqiu who seemed to be immersed in the song and dance. He kept turning the wine glass in his hand and watched the performance in front of him with interest.
"It's not just Your Highness who is dissatisfied with these songs and dances..." The official looked at Gu Yanwei and saw that he didn't seem to like what was happening in front of him very much. It seemed that if the other party said something unpleasant, the performance would be changed immediately.
Gu Yanwei shook his head: "It's okay, wait for a song and dance and then leave. I came here to deal with things, not to play."
The official retreated in fear and trepidation.
After the banquet, Gu Yanwei sat high on the stage and said in a steady voice, "I heard something happened in Jiangnan recently?"
The officials looked at each other, not knowing how to answer for a moment.
After a moment, the leading official stepped forward tremblingly and asked, "What is your Highness talking about?"
"Someone died at the Sun Textile Factory."
This sentence made the person in front of him freeze in place, and the air in the hall seemed to drop a few degrees.
Right from the start, he asked about the recent high-profile textile factory incident, making it clear that he was here to hold me accountable.
The officials looked at each other, and one of them appeared in front of Gu Yanwei. He said respectfully: "The incident at Sun's Textile Factory happened in Hangzhou County."
"The initial cause was that the textile factory illegally occupied the Ge family's land, and they wanted to expand the textile factory's territory."
"But they did not communicate correctly and even occupied the land by force." The magistrate of Hangzhou County spoke softly about what he knew, not daring to hide even a little bit.
Shen Qingqiu sat up straight from leaning against the wall, his eyes fixed on the magistrate of Hangzhou County.
I thought I could wait until tomorrow to investigate the deaths in Sun’s Textile Factory, but now the situation is that I have found it without any effort after searching everywhere.
With Gu Yanwei's help, we can temporarily get some brief information from the officials and enrich our understanding of the case.
The magistrate of Hangzhou County continued, "The Ge family is also very strong-willed. The mother of the Ge family, Mrs. Ge, swore to die and refused to allow the textile factory to occupy her land. She even lay on the land and refused to give in."
At this point, the magistrate of Hang County sighed: "The textile factory is coming with great force, and there is strength in numbers. They will not back down if they occupy the Ge family's land as long as they want what they want."
"Both of them had strange tempers and refused to give in to each other. This led to the tragedy and the death of Ge's mother."
Shen Qingqiu looked at the official in front of him with great interest, and the words in his ears seemed to be true.
Gu Yanwei coughed lightly: "Is it all true?"
"It's absolutely true." The official did not dare to hide it.
"How did Mrs. Ge die?" Gu Yanwei asked the most crucial question, wanting to know the moment of death.
A trace of panic and paleness flashed across the face of the magistrate of Hangzhou County. He trembled and explained: "This... I don't know either."
Shen Qingqiu fixed his eyes on the magistrate of Hangzhou County. He felt that something was not quite right.
"After Ge's death, they held a funeral directly. I heard it was very tragic." The last sentence was said in a deliberately low voice, as if he was being taboo about something.
Shen Qingqiu raised her eyebrows and slightly narrowed her eyes. In fact, she didn't believe every word the other party said. What she heard was far less real than what she saw.
She could only regard everything in front of her as the beginning of a story, and the real facts still needed to be discovered personally to determine their authenticity.
Just listen to the words in your ears.
Shen Qingqiu raised his head and stared at Gu Yanwei in mid-air, and they both saw caution and inquiry in each other's eyes.
A sneer appeared on Shen Qingqiu's lips, and he walked away slowly.
At night, Shen Qingqiu appeared in Gu Yanwei's room and talked under the candlelight.
"This matter is very suspicious. Although the magistrate of Hangzhou County wants to say that both parties are wrong in this matter, he is obviously biased towards the textile factory. He said that the textile factory is deliberately bullying." Shen Qingqiu saw through everything at a glance.
"So... we still need to investigate in person, and we must not alert the enemy." Gu Yanwei said in a low voice.
"I will take Tu Jiu with me to investigate secretly."
"You don't have to go. If something happens, it will be difficult to deal with." Shen Qingqiu frowned as he looked at Gu Yanwei.
Gu Yanwei has never been in good health, and he was ordered to come here this time. The officials must be keeping a close eye on his whereabouts, so it would not be a good idea to go out and investigate.
"But...what if something happens to you?" Gu Yanwei was a little worried.
"No, my skills are enough. Besides, we have Tu Jiu. We are just investigating the textile factory, which is not a big problem."
Gu Yanwei's eyes dimmed slightly, and he was unable to go with Shen Qingqiu.
Night fell quietly, Shen Qingqiu deliberately concealed his figure and set off together with Tu Jiu who had been waiting at the door for a long time.
When I arrived at Jiangnan Textile Factory, I was shocked by the scene before me.
Jiangnan Textile Factory was neither big nor small, but the current situation seemed to be beyond his expectations.
The place looked run-down and all the machinery was covered in dust, as if it had not been used for some time.
All kinds of things were piled on the ground, as if they had been abandoned.
Shen Qingqiu frowned, his eyes scanning everything in front of him.
Tu Jiu interrupted: "Miss, this place is already very bad, do we need to find another place to investigate?"
Shen Qingqiu shook his head and continued to investigate around the textile factory.
"I remember there should be someone guarding the textile factory all the time."
Shen Qingqiu stepped forward and said: "Go find the local person in charge."
"Knock, knock, knock." Shen Qingqiu knocked on the wooden door in front of him, and before long a man came out.
"Who are you?" The woman in the door asked puzzledly.
Shen Qingqiu revealed his identity: "I am the manager sent by the Beijing Textile Factory to investigate the problems at the Jiangnan Textile Factory." The local person in charge, Hui Niang, showed a bitter look on her face: "The Jiangnan Textile Factory has become like this because of someone's mischief!"
"Everything was fine originally, but everything changed after that incident."
Hui Niang explained: "People outside say we did it on purpose, but we didn't do that."
"We didn't do anything, but the man just fell down."
"Because of this incident, all the workers at Jiangnan Textile Factory no longer wanted to stay in the factory. They all wanted to flee as soon as possible because someone died there. That's why the factory became so dilapidated and deserted."
Hui Niang explained the current situation, a trace of sadness flashing across her brows.
Seeing the Jiangnan Textile Factory flourishing but suddenly failing, anyone would feel uncomfortable watching such a scene.
Shen Qingqiu listened to Hui Niang's words, gathered the words of the magistrate of Hangzhou County in his mind, and began to think about it.
She did not say anything and continued to inquire about the news: "Why did this happen? Logically speaking, occupying land also requires the consent of the other party. Did the textile factory deliberately not discuss it?"
"How is that possible!" Hui Niang retorted: "We have discussed it carefully, but the other party is just making trouble."
"We were even suppressed by the government for no apparent reason because of this incident."
Hui Niang clenched her fists tightly, her heart filled with anger.
Shen Qingqiu tapped his fingers on the table, thinking.
It seems that this matter is not as simple as imagined, and the magistrate of Hangzhou County is hiding something.
Someone secretly had his eyes on the textile factory and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to attack it.
Recalling the scene of defeat in the textile factory just now, Shen Qingqiu suddenly felt very unhappy.
If they could be suppressed by officials, then it was a case of collusion between officials and bandits? Or maybe some people were jealous of the income of the textile factory and took this opportunity to suppress and acquire it.
Shen Qingqiu and Tu Jiu left quietly without making a sound.
The former sneaked into Gu Yanwei's room and was surprised that the other party was still waiting in the same manner as when he left.
"How was it?" Seeing Shen Qingqiu return safely, Gu Yanwei couldn't wait to ask.
"Jiangnan Textile Factory has been targeted." Shen Qingqiu said briefly.
"What the magistrate of Hangzhou County said might be false. Someone wants the textile factory so he deliberately stirs up trouble and obtains it through such means." Shen Qingqiu saw through the trick at a glance, and his eyes became even colder.
Gu Yanwei said softly: "Since someone has concealed this matter, it would be best if we start investigating along the way."
These words attracted Shen Qingqiu's attention, and she changed her mind: "Officials..."
"What did they hide? So the failure of the textile factory was not because of the death of people, but because of secret planning..." Shen Qingqiu's words gradually weakened.
"There is a banquet tomorrow. If you come with me, you may be able to learn something from it." Gu Yanwei specifically suggested.
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